Lauren Groh-Wargo is ready to get Fair Fight Action back on strong footing.
Groh-Wargo, a longtime adviser to Stacey Abrams, helped the Democrat found the voting rights group after the 2018 race for governor. She served as its CEO until leaving in 2022 to help Abrams make another bid for governor.
Early this year, Fair Fight faced $2.5 million in debt with only $1.9 million in cash in the bank, forcing leaders to cut 20 employees. That’s when Groh-Wargo returned as an interim CEO. She recently dropped “interim” from her title.
“It’s been a challenge,” Groh-Wargo told the hosts of “Politically Georgia” on Friday. “We had to figure it out, and it was tough. It’s tough to do layoffs. It’s tough to do a restructure. It’s tough on everybody.”
But prospects for the group are improving.
“I was able to negotiate our debt, and we got over a million dollars relieved and have paid our debt off and reduced our costs,” the returning CEO said.
Abrams no longer serves on the organization’s board but is its emeritus chair.
“(Abrams) helps us as needed (with) whatever we need,” Groh-Wargo said. “(But) she’s not involved in the day-to-day.”
On Friday, Fair Fight launched a new campaign to fight voter suppression called “Let’s Freaking Go!”
Participants can volunteer as poll workers with Power the Polls and with candidates up and down the ballot, which Groh-Wargo says is important this election cycle.
“Joe Biden won the state by less than 12,000 votes (in 2020). OK, let’s look at that. Everything the Georgia Republican Party is doing this year is about those 12,000 votes,” Groh-Wargo said.
“I think it’s incumbent on Biden and his team and his surrogates and our Democrats locally to make the case and to get in the communities. Georgia and Michigan had by far, by a lot, the strongest Black turnout in 2022,” she said.
“I think we’re sitting here as Kamala Harris is doing just that,” Groh-Wargo added, pointing to the vice president’s trip to Atlanta on Friday and her planned return to Georgia again on Tuesday.
Groh-Wargo recognized that “voters are not thrilled about their choices” in this year’s election between Biden and former President Donald Trump.
“It’s not about these two men. It’s not about these two parties,” she said about the election. “It’s about us and our futures.”
Monday on “Politically Georgia”: We’ll review the top political headlines from the weekend.
